Multinational and Regional Organizations in 2012

Multinational and Regional OrganizationsThierry Chesnot—SIPA/APIn 2012 the world’s network of multinational and regional organizations responded to an array of transnational challenges. The euro-zone debt crisis—and broader fears about global economic instability—were the focus of the Group of 20 (G20) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF). In its capacity as a consultative group for the world’s largest economies, the G20 simultaneously urged European leaders to develop a comprehensive response to the crisis and sought to prevent the euro zone’s instability from producing a broader global economic crisis. For its part the IMF continued its partnership with the euro zone in responding to the crisis. The IMF participated actively in consultations on Greece, Ireland, and Portugal. IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde, a former French finance minister, emerged as a key interlocutor in the world’s response to the regional debt crisis and several times chided European leaders for their policies. The IMF also sought to stabilize the finances of several countries outside Europe, including the new government in Egypt. As 2012 ended, IMF officials were in Cairo negotiating the details of a major loan package.

In the midst of global economic uncertainty, the World Trade Organization (WTO) continued its efforts to mediate disputes and encourage global trade liberalization. The Doha Round of trade negotiations, taking place under the WTO’s auspices, showed few signs of progress, however. WTO officials repeatedly expressed concern that international trade liberalization had stalled and warned that regional trade agreements were not a substitute for international measures. One bright spot for the WTO was the accession of Russia, which had been the only significant economic power outside the organization; Russia became the WTO’s 157th member in August.

The broader debate about the adequacy and representativeness of the world’s key multinational organizations continued. The process of appointing a new World Bank president, in particular, raised the issue of whether Western powers had undue privileges in multinational organizations. By custom, the World Bank president had always been selected by the United States, although the U.S. nominee was formally elected by the bank’s executive board. Under pressure to modernize its governance structure, the bank altered its election procedures in 2011 and committed to a merit-based process. When Robert Zoellick announced in February that he would not seek a second term as bank president, several different candidates emerged, and an unusually open campaign for the post ensued. The two candidates with the most support were Jim Yong Kim, who was nominated by the U.S., and Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Nigeria’s finance minister. Kim ultimately prevailed and took office in July, but the process suggested that the era of unquestioned U.S. leadership had ended.

In the realm of criminal justice, the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) began, and then halted, its trial of former Bosnian Serb general Ratko Mladic on charges of war crimes, including genocide. In November the tribunal’s appeals chamber acquitted two Croatian generals who had been convicted of crimes committed during the same 1992–95 Balkan conflict. In March the permanent International Criminal Court (ICC) achieved its first conviction when judges found Congolese warlord Thomas Lubanga guilty of having recruited and employed child soldiers. The ICC also moved toward a trial of former Côte d’Ivoire president Laurent Gbagbo. Several individuals sought by the ICC remained at large, however, including Ugandan warlord Joseph Kony and Sudanese Pres. Omar al-Bashir.

A variety of regional organizations attempted to manage political and security challenges. NATO moved toward the final stage of its decadelong mission in Afghanistan, conducted with authorization from the UN. A series of attacks by Afghans, including security personnel, on NATO troops weakened the alliance’s appetite for further engagement. At a May summit meeting in Chicago, however, NATO leaders pledged to maintain its stabilization mission until 2014 and committed (vaguely) to support the Afghan government even after that date. In October NATO also agreed to extend for one year the tenure of Anders Fogh Rasmussen as the organization’s secretary-general.

After a sometimes bitter contest, the African Union (AU) Commission selected a new leader—South African Nkosazana Dlamini—and the AU continued mediation and peacekeeping efforts in Somalia, Mali, and Sudan. In November the AU endorsed international military intervention to oppose Islamist radical control in northern Mali. The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) attempted to forge a common position on territorial disputes in the South China Sea. An ASEAN summit meeting in July ended without consensus, however, as its members faced significant political pressure from China. The Arab League struggled to manage reverberations from the Arab Spring movement, including in Syria. In January the Arab League terminated a brief observer mission to Syria in the face of escalating violence. In November the 22-member organization recognized a coalition of Syrian opposition groups in an apparent effort to encourage a unified alternative to the regime of Bashar al-Assad.

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